Warriors' 54-Game Home Streak Broken in Loss to Celtics: Comments and Reaction
The Golden State Warriors almost made it through the season without losing at Oracle Arena, but the 54-game home winning streak dating back to last season came to an end Friday night with a 109-106 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Golden State suffered a loss at its home arena in a regular-season game for the first time since Jan. 27, 2015, when the Warriors lost in overtime, 113-111, to the Chicago Bulls.
Despite the loss, the Warriors at 68-8 is still the best mark through 76 games in NBA history, per GSW Stats. But the Celtics pulled out all the stops to try and contain reigning league MVP Stephen Curry:
Curry had a game-high 29 points, but Klay Thompson couldn't get it going offensively. He shot 6-of-16 and scored only 15 points, while Harrison Barnes took just 11 shots and was held to 14 points.
The Warriors got another solid all-around performance from Draymond Green (16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists), but the Celtics won this game with four guys scoring in double figures led by Isaiah Thomas' 22 points.
Boston took a 45-43 lead at halftime and even withstood a 21-point onslaught from Curry in the third quarter to take a three-point lead heading into the fourth.
Down 105-103 with 30 seconds remaining, Green got a huge stop at the defensive end to give the Warriors a chance to tie or take the lead. At the other end, however, Green couldn't handle the pass from Curry on the next possession, and the Warriors turned the ball over.
It was a crucial turnover and unlike Green to lose the ball in that situation, as Ethan Strauss of ESPN.com pointed out:
After two free throws from Evan Turner, Barnes responded with a corner three-pointer to make it a one-point game with 10.2 seconds left. But the 5'9" Thomas responded with a layup out of the timeout to give Boston a three-point lead:
Curry and Barnes' threes were off line, and the Warriors fell to the Celtics.
Chris Mannix from The Vertical commented on the Celtics coming up big in a crucial situation:
All streaks have to come to an end at some point, and the Warriors losing this game means the pursuit of the 1996 Chicago Bulls' 72-win mark is put on hold for the moment.
As for the Celtics, they've shown all year they're a dangerous team and can be a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference. They've done something that hasn't been done in over 500 days, and to get this win without Jae Crowder should be a momentum carrier into the playoffs.
Postgame Reaction
Considering how hot Curry was in the third quarter, expecting him to make the game-tying shot at the end of regulation seemed like a formality.
"Every one of them I think is going down. But it didn't," Curry said, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "All things considered, it was a pretty good look at it. ... We've gotten away with some games that we probably shouldn't have won with some shots like that. And tonight it wasn't our night."
Despite the fact Golden State won't finish the regular season with a perfect home record, the Warriors are still in reach of making history and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was more than pleased with his team during this stretch, per the Warriors' official Twitter account:
Green's turnover after forcing one of his own was the back breaker for the Warriors, and the All-Star said it was a matter of thinking of the play before reacting on it:
"I kind of started observing the floor before I really grabbed the ball and saw the exact situation that we wanted and left the ball behind," Green said, per the AP. "I guess you need those lessons sometimes, but it never feels good."
Curry seemed to be on the verge of having one of his classic takeover games in the third quarter, but Boston head coach Brad Stevens was pleased with how his team responded.
"When Curry got going in the third quarter, I thought the biggest moment of the game was us scoring consecutively when he scored," Stevens said, per the AP.
The Warriors took 43 three-pointers in total and shot better, from a percentage standpoint, from long range than they did overall (46.5 percent to 45.8 percent). When asked if this was a throwback game, the three-point record holder summed it best, per Let's Go Warriors:
